A rising number of Iowa children have been victims of homicide the past three years — from abuse, shootings and unsupervised accidents. At least 20 Iowa children died last year, including 11 from suspected abuse,
Wochit

Police said the child was "intentionally subjected to physical and mental torture" in the enclosure, which had no light, a bare cement floor and a door that locked from the outside. The boy was let out only to attend school across the street, police said. No other children lived in the home.

While the boy was confined, he was not let out to use the bathroom and was given a tin coffee can to use as a toilet, according to charging documents. The child also urinated on the floor, where he slept without a pillow, blanket, mattress or other bedding.

Ackley Police Chief Brian Shimon described the boy as being "locked in a dungeon" while Hardin County Attorney Darrell Meyer called it "a coffin."

Tyler's trial is set for next month.

Shadlow also faces a first-degree kidnapping charge but has not yet entered a plea.

The couple deprived the boy of food and often struck or otherwise physically assaulted him, according to court documents. Tyler is accused of hitting the boy with the handle of a flyswatter and urging their dog to bite him.

The confinement occurred between July and September 2017. When the boy returned to school in the fall, his teachers noticed his low body weight and saw his hair was falling out in patches. He eventually told a teacher about the basement enclosure and the school contacted the Iowa Department of Human Services, which removed the boy from the home.